Sweet readers,
I write to you from my dark, dark bedroom. Ours is a basement apartment and I have turned the lights off to set the mood. My shirt is off, too, but not in a sexy way. I’m mildly allergic to our new dog and I need my air passageways as clear as possible. I do not want inflamed sinuses while I write this sad note.
I’ve decided to stop my newsletter, the famous Max Practice. In truth, I had been discussing this choice with various loved ones for weeks before the pandemic started. As I’d hoped, I learned a ton this past year-ish about the kind of writing I want to do. What I’ve learned is that I am not a lightning fast content machine. I am a slow and ugly burn. It’s the same impulse that led me to stop stand-up a few months ago, despite my relative success: I can entertain on the spot, but I generally prefer not to (save for co-hosting queer live talk show Cruising with Clara, my one true comedy love). I like to savor an idea, look at it from all angles, let it marinate and get super weird. In just 8 weeks, I’ll move to Ohio for an MFA program. I am going to write and learn a ton, then publish work that (ideally) reads more confident and self-assured. As a writer, I am very concerned with wasting anyone’s time and money. I want to give you my best, and my best is slow.
For instance: In a couple weeks, I have an essay coming out at The Rumpus. It’s challenging and aggressive. It took me almost three years to get it right. It is 2500 words. I think it is the best writing I have ever done. Please check it out on May 11th, if you’re so inclined.
I am grateful for the incredible feedback and kind words you all have shared with me about my posts for Max Practice. So many of these little essay-things were a true joy to write. Some of my favorites were (I’ve unlocked all these posts, if any free subscribers want to read):
The Real Girls of Adventure Time
I Have Heard The Voice of Trans
On The Sexually Fluid Community
Do You Remember Fucking My Wife?
Thank you all for giving me the space to experiment, have fun and practice meeting deadlines. To be paid to write! About Are You The One?! Truly, I have now lived the dream. Anything after this is just gravy.
Here’s how this is going to work— New paid subscriptions are now closed. After sending this email, I will cancel all paid Max Practice subscriptions, thus ending all paid Max Practice content. If you had a paid subscription and would like a partial refund for any content you would have received in coming weeks/months, please email me, and I’ll send you that refund through Stripe as quickly as possible. I reserve the right to occasionally send a free newsletter via Max Practice sometime in the future, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.
Now I’m going to log off and take a long bath. Again, thank you all for the support, for sharing this newsletter with others, for reading my work again and again. See you IRL one day.
Love,
Max